Stars players in the league are often criticized for missing out games and taking time off the courts. Keeping such issues in context, the NBA board of directors have decided to put new player resting policies in the league.
Heading into the new season, the NBA wants to maintain maximum presence of star players on the team rosters and on the courts. With new TV deals looming on the horizon, the league is looking to bring about certain changes in their player resting policies.
What is the new rule introduced by the NBA?
In trying to curb the load management issues in the league, the NBA had previously introduced a Player Resting Policy (PRP) at the start of the 2017-18 season. Since 2017, teams cannot rest healthy players for important games that are nationally televised. However, the new PPP or Player Participation Policy will determine how many games a star player can miss in the season.
A report from an NBA Senior Lead and Insider Shams Charania claims that “NBA Board of Governors has approved a new policy that a team is unable to rest two-star players in the same game moving forward, multiple sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. A star is defined as someone who has made All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons.”
NBA Board of Governors has approved new policy that a team is unable to rest two star players in the same game moving forward, multiple sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. A star is defined as someone who has made All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 13, 2023
The new rules state that, “No more than one-star player should be unavailable for the same game, teams must ensure that star players are available for national TV and in-season tournament games. teams must maintain a balance between the number of one-game absences for a star player in home games and road games with a preference for those absences to happen in home games.”
It also read, “Teams must refrain from any long-term shutdown or near shutdown when a star player stops participating in games or plays in a materially reduced role in circumstances affecting the integrity of the game and teams must ensure that healthy players resting for a game are present and visible to fans.”
Surely, these new changes will come to affect and maximize the appearance of star players in the coming season.
How much would be fine for violating the NBA new rule of load management?
The NBA is introducing a system of fines for teams in regard to the violation of the new Player Participation Policy. For the first violation, there will be a $100,000 fine, $250,000 for a second violation, and an additional $1 million added to the previous penalty for each subsequent offense, as per ESPN.
League commissioner Adam Silver said the league will keep researching the statistics, science, and amount of recovery time required for injuries.
“We’re trying to deal with some of the most egregious examples, where multiple star players, for example, healthy, healthy all out on the same night.”, Silver said.
“We’re letting down the fans, we’re letting down our partners by doing that. We’re stating a principle in terms of an 82-game league and saying let’s all work together.”
A total of 25 teams and 50 players will feel the effects of these new rules. Fifteen teams have more than one player who received All-NBA honors or participated in the All-Star Game in the last three seasons. It’s possible that the list of affected players might change after the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.
What is your take concerning the new NBA rule? Share your opinion with us in the comment section.
